The Lost History of Liberalism challenges our most basic assumptions about a political creed that has become a rallying cry—and a term of derision—in today’s increasingly divided public square. Taking readers from ancient Rome to today, Helena Rosenblatt traces the evolution of the words “liberal” and “liberalism,” revealing the heated debates that have taken place over their meaning.
In this timely and provocative book, Rosenblatt debunks the popular myth of liberalism as a uniquely Anglo-American tradition centered on individual rights. She shows that it was the French Revolution that gave birth to liberalism and Germans who transformed it. Only in the mid-twentieth century did the concept become widely known in the United States—and then, as now, its meaning was hotly debated. Liberals were originally moralists at heart. They believed in the power of religion to reform society, emphasized the sanctity of the family, and never spoke of rights without speaking of duties. It was only during the Cold War and America’s growing world hegemony that liberalism was refashioned into an American ideology focused so strongly on individual freedoms.
Today, we still can’t seem to agree on liberalism’s meaning. In the United States, a “liberal” is someone who advocates big government, while in France, big government is contrary to “liberalism.” Political debates become befuddled because of semantic and conceptual confusion. The Lost History of Liberalism sets the record straight on a core tenet of today’s political conversation and lays the foundations for a more constructive discussion about the future of liberal democracy.
Awards and Recognition
- One of Foreign Affairs' Picks for Best of Books 2018
- One of Isthmus' Most Important Books of 2018 (Dave Cieslewicz)
Helena Rosenblatt is professor of history at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Her many books include Liberal Values: Benjamin Constant and the Politics of Religion and Thinking with Rousseau: From Machiavelli to Schmitt. She lives in New York City.
“The Lost History of Liberalism is the most acute and careful account on the theme ever composed. Helena Rosenblatt’s accomplishment is thrilling, with self-evident implications for our own time of ideological strife.”—Samuel Moyn, Yale University
“Systematic and daring, this provocative history of ideas reveals how the ethical qualities of liberalism, understood as a protean force, should be placed front and center. Inventively tracing the liberal tradition’s tense connections to religion and its engagement with other bodies of thought, this ‘lost history’ forces a reappraisal of various established versions of liberalism’s origins, meaning, and development.”—Ira Katznelson, coauthor of Liberal Beginnings: Making a Republic for the Moderns
“This clear and sure-footed intellectual history traces the evolution of the liberal tradition through a centuries-long international dialogue about character and the common good in which France and Germany played key roles. Against this backdrop, contemporary rights-focused Anglo-American liberalism can be interpreted as a response to the challenge of twentieth-century totalitarianism.”—William A. Galston, Brookings Institution
“How did liberalism become the dreaded L-word? While opponents portray liberalism as a set of ideas untethered to moral foundations, Rosenblatt traces out its centuries-long history, showing that proponents not only gave it a moral core but also called for leaders and citizens alike to dedicate themselves to the public good. In these times, we could use a bit of both.”—Heather Boushey, author of Finding Time: The Economics of Work-Life Conflict
“Rosenblatt’s remarkable book challenges us to rethink the whole history of liberalism. It restores many missing elements to the story, and shows how our understanding of liberalism has been distorted by its identification with individualism by a series of writers after World War II.”—Jerrold Seigel, author of The Idea of the Self: Thought and Experience in Western Europe since the Seventeenth Century
“Rosenblatt opens up new perspectives on what is, by any measure, an important and topical subject.”—Darrin M. McMahon, author of Divine Fury: A History of Genius
“Rosenblatt’s The Lost History of Liberalism offers a timely account of how the words ‘liberal’ and ‘liberalism’ entered our political lexicon. A surprising saga, it’s also an invitation to rethink a basic—and embattled—modern value.”—James Miller, author of Examined Lives: From Socrates to Nietzsche
